New World Pioneer 1

After hearing Gu You's evaluation of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls, Tang San found it unbelievable.

A man known by the title "Grandmaster" had never expected that his most famous theory would be systematically refuted by a six-year-old child with sound reasoning.

Tang San had lived two lifetimes and believed he possessed a unique advantage. Although Gu You and Old Jack had taken good care of him, he still thought that he had been the one leading his relationship with Gu You—that the older brother had been accommodating the younger brother.

But he had never expected that Gu You, who had spent the past six years fishing with him whenever he was not in the city reading books, could accomplish something like this.

Aside from the Tang Sect Secret Arts he had brought from his previous life, he had achieved nothing in these six years. He had even learned this world's knowledge of Martial Souls from Gu You, whom he regarded as his younger brother. It was as though Gu You had led him into this entirely new world.

Although he now had a father who was suspected to be a Title Douluo, Gu You's family had already taken care of him all this time, while he had never repaid them.

Thinking of this, Tang San made a decision.

Seeing Tang San suddenly lower his head and fall silent, Gu You was utterly confused. Wasn't I merely making that lousy Grandmaster's theory worthless? You're not this guy's student. I'm not going to get killed over this, am I?

"I've spent so many years reading books in Spirit Hall. I wasn't even this serious when I took the college entrance exam. I really did find the exact same original text of his theory recorded in someone else's book. I don't even know why nobody pointed it out."

"Does nobody in this world read books? Books can clearly be printed freely. Even a small city like Nuoding City has a large number of printed books from Spirit Hall's collection. Yet aside from the administrators, I've barely seen anyone go in there. And the few people I've seen only read books like Soul Beast catalogs."

Tang San swept away the thoughts in his mind and asked, "So what do you think?"

Hearing Tang San's question, Gu You also set aside his jumbled thoughts and replied, "I haven't obtained my first Soul Ring yet. Many of my ideas won't take shape until after I get my first Soul Ring."

"However, the books I've read over the past few years are already enough for me to propose several fairly general theories."

"First, according to the current trend in Soul Skill combinations, aside from a few especially unique Martial Souls, Soul Masters of every system have two paths of development: the Generalist Type and the Specialist Type."

"By Generalist Type, I don't mean that the Soul Skills of this Martial Soul can do everything. After all, a Martial Soul can only receive nine Soul Rings and obtain nine Soul Skills. Rather, while maintaining its general direction, it gains applications of skills from other systems."

"Let me give you an example. Suppose someone has a rope Martial Soul and grows into a Control System Soul Master. His First Soul Skill would most likely allow him to control the rope and tie up enemies."

"This Soul Skill would become the foundation of his abilities as a Control System Soul Master. He could use the rope to entangle enemies and hinder their movements, or tie it around an ally's waist and pull them into a different position."

"Now, if this Soul Master wanted to further improve his control, what could he do?"

Hearing Gu You's question, Tang San's first reaction as a disciple of the Tang Sect was to blurt out, "Poison."

But he immediately realized that, as a child from a village, how could Poison be the first thing he thought of? He quickly added, "He could make the rope tougher."

Gu You knew Tang San's background and did not mind. Old Jack was driving the carriage and had not heard what the two of them were saying.

"Exactly. Making the rope itself stronger and adding Poison to the rope can both enhance its control. A tougher rope makes it harder for enemies to break free, while Poison on the rope can weaken anyone who touches it or even kill them."

"But Xiao San, have you noticed that this gives a rope Martial Soul the offensive abilities of an Attack System Martial Soul and the supportive abilities of a Support System Martial Soul?"

"A stronger rope can be used as a whip. And if you think about Poison from the opposite angle, you can replace it with a Soul Skill that produces an invigorating effect. Tying it around an ally can strengthen that ally's abilities."

"Look. With only four Soul Skills—the First Soul Skill allowing the rope to wrap around a person, the Second Soul Skill strengthening the rope, the Third Soul Skill giving the rope Poison, and the Fourth Soul Skill giving the rope an invigorating effect—a Control System Martial Soul can possess both offensive and supportive abilities."

"This is a Generalist Type Soul Master. In other words, besides the abilities of their own system, they can also perform some of the abilities of other systems."

"The other type is the Specialist Type. It ignores every other possibility and endlessly strengthens its advantages—or rather, the aspects it hopes to turn into advantages—so that, no matter the situation, it will always have an advantage in one area."

"The most famous and typical Martial Soul of this type is the Clear Sky Hammer. According to the records, every user who inherited the Clear Sky Douluo's legacy added strength-oriented Soul Rings without exception."

"This allowed the Clear Sky Hammer to hold the upper hand in pure strength against every enemy, guaranteeing its destructive power."

"That is the Specialist Type Soul Master. No matter the circumstances, they ensure that they possess an advantage and win by competing through that advantage."

After hearing Gu You explain the two types, Tang San asked again, "What are those special Martial Souls? How are their Soul Skill combinations different?"

Hearing this, Gu You replied, "These special Martial Souls generally cannot obtain Soul Skills through normal means."

"The most famous one is the signature Martial Soul of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which stands alongside the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect as one of the Upper Three Sects—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

"Because of its innate characteristics, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can only be a Support System Martial Soul. Regardless of the user's wishes or the Soul Beast's Soul Ring they add, the effect will always be an increase to some ability, such as strength, speed, or defense."

"What's frightening is that the abilities enhanced by the earlier Soul Rings will increase in magnitude as more Soul Rings are obtained. For example, if the First Soul Ring increases strength by ten percent and the Second Soul Ring increases speed by twenty percent, then the strength increased by the First Soul Ring will also become twenty percent."

"Unfortunately, the price of gaining such terrifying supportive abilities is that one can only advance to the Soul Saint realm. No matter what, one cannot become an eight-ring Soul Douluo."

"Another is the Healing System Martial Soul known as the Nine Heart Begonia. It has only one Soul Skill effect: healing. According to the records, its healing ability far surpasses that of every other Healing System Martial Soul at the same level."

"However, the price is the same. At most, only two Nine Heart Begonia Soul Masters can exist at the same time. Only when one of them dies can another Soul Master awaken the Nine Heart Begonia."

From this point onward, the protagonist's hidden cheat will officially display its power. If the powerful Martial Soul, the Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, and the plot understood from a third-person perspective are the cheats displayed in plain sight,

then scientific common sense from modern society, data collection, logical analysis, and the ability to formulate hypotheses are the first hidden cheat. These things learned in class may seem useless. In modern society, because everyone possesses them, they seem meaningless unless one is far superior to others.

But in a social environment resembling ancient times, abilities from the modern world are like a dimensionality-reduction attack, displaying an incredible charm.

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